Hungary and the link with Central Asia

 

hungarian crafts with Central asian design

Felt art from the hungarian hat millener Zsofia Marx

Once I traveled in Hungary, on a local market I was impressed by the crafts such as the leather, linen, ceramic and felt products. In the contemporary leather and felt arts the connection with Central Asia is often visible in the patterns that are used.

Read on…

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Felt road in Kyrgyzstan

De vilt route van Kyrgyzstan

Shyrdaks from Kyrgyzstan in Magazine ZIN

Stef Verhoeven has written a great story in the Dutch Magazine Zin edition april 2012.

link Read on…

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New Spring collection Shirdak rugs

Spring collection shirdak

Beautiful blues from the mountains of Kyrgyzstan

A couple of days before leaving to the Selvedge Fair in London, our new Spring collection of Shirdak rugs arrived.  I had a quick look in the boxes but only now I had time to describe them and place them on our redesigned shop online.

the new Shirdak felt carpets of 2012

The new collection of Shirdak rugs gives you a real spring feeling

Together with the workshops, we tried designs in new colour combinations. The results  are a welcome addition to our collection. The fresh orange and off-white colours give you a real Spring feeling.

The Scythian design rugs in pink turquoise looks modern and make a perfect combination with metal and industrial furniture.

funky colour combination in shirdak rug

Scythian design in funky colour combination

This time, we also produced the traditional carpet in multicolour as the Kyrgyz and I always love. These big shirdak are of an exquisite quality of felt.

traditional shirdak rugs in multi colour

New collection of traditional shirdak rugs in multicolour combination

A small collection of farmer rugs also arrived. These rugs are made by the locals in small villages, felting, dying sewing their own sheep wool. All unique adorable items.

It’s great that already a few were sold.

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Shirdak is running the Bloom collection by Enosis

Shirdak-Selvedge-Spring-Fair

Shirdak-Selvedge-Spring-fair

To tell you the truth, I am quite nervous. On March 31st I will take part in the Selvedge Spring Fair in London. Travelling in Central Asia makes me less stressful than one day in London. Anyway on this fair I will present the Enosis Bloom collection 2012. Read on…

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My Birthday was decorated with textiles

suzani with embroidered birds

embroidered wallhangings with birds flew over from Central asia

This year I had a very special birthday. Since a couple of weeks I decided to go back to my roots: textiles from Central Asia. It makes me happy. Read on…

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If you want to get ahead, get a hat!

felted hats from Kyrgyzstan

New collection felt hats from Kyrgyzstan

Once a hat was an indispensable part of your clothing.  The hat you were wearing could tell a stranger whether you were married or not, in mourn or what class you belonged to.

Nowadays , almost everywhere these signals have disappeared. Read on…

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Birds and symbolism

realistic birds made of felt

full sized handmade birds, collect them all

 

When I look at the sky and I see the birds flying I feel a little jealous. They are so happy, free and liberated of borders. They can go everywhere, and have this great overview all the time.

Birds are symbolic metaphors for human moods and a range of emotions. In general the bird in art and also in the art of textiles is the symbol of liberation and freedom. Read on…

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Chests and cupboards filled with textiles, delicious !

 

tribal textiles and rugs

a cabinet filled with piles of tribal textiles and rugs, collect them at Shirdak

When I was a little child I always loved to sniff in the linen closet and play with the nicely and neatly arranged stacks of white linen. In the wardrobe the world to me seems soft and freshly organized.

Read on…

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Russian Printed textiles for the Central Asian Market

Russian textiles for the Central Asian market

My Central Asian quilt with Russian printed textiles

Every year begin of January I have to count all my products. This is a boring project, the only nice thing about it is that I also have to count my stock of traditional textile items, the dresses from Kohistan, the ikat coats from Uzbekistan and other tribal textile garments. Read on…

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Never a dull moment at Shirdak in 2011

mayer-peace -collection

Exhibition 2011 Christine Mayer and the tribal textiles day May 19th 2011

Looking back on an exciting Shirdak year full of success and surprises.

In 2011 we started with the exhibition of the Christine Mayer Peace collection. With a beautiful article in the magazine Selvedge we were happy to have this new brand in our shop. Read on…

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